Chapter 3: Spacequake!

The purpose of my first jump was simple: data acquisition.

While soaring through the brilliant blue sky, a novelty in itself, my internal sensors had flagged a high-energy anomaly. 

The system cross-referenced it with my database, a mix of my own latent knowledge and the memories of the human I used to be. The result was a single, chilling term: Spacequake.

A catastrophe unique to this world, born from the arrival of a "Spirit." Where a spacequake bloomed, a Spirit was sure to be found. The perfect opportunity. Without hesitation, I had altered my trajectory, my flight a silent, unerring line toward the epicenter.

Which led to this. A standoff in the heart of a fresh wound.

"Are you," the armored girl called out, her voice tight with strain, "here to kill me, too?"

She did not know what I was, only that I was not human. In her reality, that was likely reason enough to be an enemy. 

My unblinking, golden eyes remained locked on her, my internal sensors cataloging every fluctuation in the energy that rolled off her in waves. 

To her, it must have felt like the predatory gaze of a hunter. The air crackled with her rising hostility.

I was about to speak, to offer a simple denial, but I paused. A human response would be out of place. I needed to establish a baseline. My vocalizer whirred, processing the optimal phrasing.

"Negative," I stated, my voice a calm, synthesized melody. "This unit holds no directive for termination. My purpose is observation and threat assessment of the unidentified lifeform."

The girl's shoulders slumped. The immense broadsword in her hands lowered until its tip rested on the fractured concrete. For a fleeting second, a flicker of hope had been extinguished.

"I see," she whispered, her eyes losing their defiant light. "So you're the same as them."

Then, she moved.

The ground shattered beneath her feet. She exploded upward, a violet comet of steel and fury. 

Her blade, a thing of impossible size and weight, arced through the air, aimed directly at my core. 

She was closing the distance, giving me no time to react, seeking to end this with a single, overwhelming blow.

Just like she had done with the others.

My expressionless face betrayed nothing, but my processors were running hot. This was it. The first test of my new form, my new power.

In the microsecond before the blade could connect, I issued a single, silent command.

" Aeterna Defensio "

A translucent shield of golden, geometric light materialized in front of me. The girl's broadsword slammed into it with a deafening CRACK. 

The impact was immense, a physical shockwave that vibrated through the air. The shield held, absorbing the brunt of the kinetic force, but it was not a perfect negation. 

A halo of residual energy bled past the barrier, striking the precarious pile of rubble on which I stood.

The structure groaned, then gave way. With a roar of collapsing metal and concrete, we plunged into the dust-choked darkness below.

….

The quiet lasted only for a moment.

Two successive booms echoed from within the debris cloud. I burst out first, my flight systems carrying me back into the open sky. A heartbeat later, the armored girl shot out of the same hole, a purple missile in hot pursuit.

She was relentless.

Crescent-shaped blasts of violet energy, raw and destructive, screamed from her blade with every swing. 

They tore through the air, leaving shimmering trails in their wake. But they were linear, predictable. A slight adjustment of my vector was all it took to evade each one.

While I dodged, I analyzed.

Every attack, every surge of her energy, every subtle shift in her armor was a data point. My systems were drinking it all in, mapping the very essence of her power.

She closed the distance again and again. Each time her blade neared, my golden shield would flash into existence, parrying the blow. The sound of their clashes became a rhythmic, percussive beat in the sky.

A frustrated cry ripped from her throat. Her attacks grew more frenzied, more desperate. She couldn't understand. She was pouring all of her power into this fight, and this silent, unmoving thing was treating it like a mild inconvenience.

She was right to be confused.

The source of my defense was the Dimensional Engine. The system had replaced the volatile Geister of my original Ex-Machina body with something far superior. 

Where my old power source would have spewed toxic, soul-corrupting residue the Black Ash of my homeworld this new energy was perfectly clean. It was drawn from the very fabric of existence, a truly limitless wellspring.

More potent. More efficient. And no pollution.

I could do this all day.

"HRAAAGH!"

She unleashed a final, desperate charge, putting every ounce of her being into one last strike. The blade hammered against my shield, and for the first time, I felt the energy strain. But it held.

This extended, one-sided battle had served its purpose. I had not attacked once, had not made a single offensive move. 

The girl, seeing her efforts were utterly futile, was beginning to hesitate. A flicker of doubt crossed her face. Was this thing truly an enemy?

Her hesitation was all the time I needed.

"Analysis complete," I announced, my voice cutting through the ringing in the air.

"What?" she stammered, bewildered.

" Endo Armament: Activate "

A surge of power, channeled through my own internal armaments, overclocked my flight systems.

" Velocity Override "

I vanished.

To her eyes, I simply ceased to be. In reality, I had moved behind her in a burst of speed too fast for her to track. She spun around, her eyes wide, finally locating me hovering a dozen meters away.

And what she saw broke her composure completely.

"How... How can you have that?!"

Her disbelieving gaze was fixed on my hands. Where before there was nothing, I now held a weapon. Her weapon.

" Pseudo-Endo Sandalphon "

During the final moments of the analysis, the command had been issued. Golden light had swirled around my hands, coalescing from motes of data into a solid form. 

The light faded to reveal a perfect, physical replica of her greatsword, from the ornate guard to the impossibly sharp edge.

A forgery. A counterfeit Angel.

"That's... impossible," she breathed. Her warrior's mask shattered. The shock of seeing her own soul-bound weapon in the hands of another was so profound, she forgot she was in the middle of a battle.

I, however, did not attack. There was no need.

Internally, I was ecstatic. It works. I can replicate the powers of this world's Spirits. My fingers tapped against the flat of the blade. It felt real, solid. 

The only caveat was its designation: Pseudo-Endo. A false armament. A copy, not the original. A limitation to be explored later.

For now, the mission was a success.

I allowed the replicated sword to dissolve back into golden light. It was time to disengage. Adhering to my established persona was paramount.

"Affirmative. Objective complete. Initiating withdrawal."

I turned to leave, dismissing her as a completed task. I saw the look on her face as I moved. It was a mixture of humiliation and bewilderment. 

The cold, clinical nature of my actions, of stealing the very image of her power only to discard it moments later, was a deeper insult than any physical blow.

As I prepared to depart, I couldn't resist a final glance. She was staring at me, her expression one of profound, personal grievance. 

It was the bewildered fury of someone who had just been deeply and inexplicably wronged.

Did I overdo it?

Probably.

Her own energy began to fluctuate, a sign of her imminent retreat from this world. As the spatial distortion began to form around her, I turned back and, on a whim, gave a small, deliberate wave.

A goodbye.

The gesture, so human yet performed by an impassive machine, seemed to short-circuit her brain. The raw fury on her face was replaced by sheer, dumbfounded confusion.

In that moment of stunned silence, I activated my own transport.

" Vector Gate "

A golden fissure tore open the air behind me. It was not the grand portal of my Dimensional Engine, but a simple, localized spatial rupture a tool for tactical repositioning. 

I gave the city one last look, my sensors noting the faint energy signatures of observers hiding in the ruins below. They were not my concern.

I stepped backward into the shimmering gateway. It snapped shut behind me, leaving no trace.

Left alone in the crater, the armored girl, Tohka, stared at the empty sky, the image of a silent, sword-stealing machine waving goodbye burned into her mind. 

The confusion curdled back into a deep, simmering resentment as she faded away, her mood utterly ruined.